Watched a lot of the Disney channel today. There wasn't much else to do. I couldn't really go out, and neither could mum. Mum helped me make a thank you card for Dr Iean and the nurses at Gleneagles for taking such good care of me. Grandma helped to post it.
Dad went out to do the laundry. Mum said she wished there was a launderette in the hospital. There is one across the road, but it's still a bit far. She also wishes there was a hair salon like in Gleneagles. If she designed a hospital, she would also make sure there was a spa with room service, she said.
A man from the blood lab came in early this morning before I had time to eat my breakfast, and took my blood for a blood test. He put a needle in my arm, and it hurt a lot.
Dr Choy came in to see me in the morning and in the afternoon. He told mum that the bone marrow test confirmed it was leukaemia. He also said it was Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia or ALL for short. Dr Iean had told mum that that was the "best" type of leukaemia, and that it was 90 per cent treatable. We won't know whether it is low-risk, intermediate or high-risk until next month, he said. That part -- cytogenetics -- is sent to Singapore. He said that the lumbar puncture also didn't show any cancer cells in my brain or spine.
Mum asked him if I could go back to school and he said it wasn't advisable due to my immunity being so low. He said she could also chat to the other mums whose kids have leukaemia. Mum met Aunty Vanessa, whose 3-year-old daughter Sarah, was diagnosed with ALL one month ago. She was very nice and said mum could talk to her anytime.
In the meantime, I needed a red cell transfusion today, Dr Choy said my blood counts were low. I was also put on fluids through an IV in my canula. I needed to go to the toilet a lot.
The nurses also helped mum to give me my medicine. Three of them came into the room, and mixed the medicine syrup with some Vitagen and made sure I drank all of it. It took me 45 minutes. There wasn't even very much medicine but I really didn't like it. With a lot of cheering and clapping though, somehow I managed to drink it.
Dr Choy told mum that some of the medicine I have to take will make me eat a lot. She said that was good, because I don't really eat much at all. She says I am a very picky eater indeed. He said that my face would also puff up due to the steroids which I have to take. But once I stop taking them, I'll go back to my usual self again.
I also got to move to a quieter and nicer room today too. It's at the back, and right next to the pantry, which is handy for mum. It also faces a nice rooftop garden. Plus the toilet and sink aren't drippy all the time. But the tv wasn't working, just like the other one, so we had to call maintenance again.
The dinner lady who brings me my meals likes to give me Milo packets and a mug of hot water 4 times a day. I don't like to drink hot Milo and mum only drinks tea, so we have quite a small bundle of Milo packets now. Every time she comes in, I ask her why she keeps giving me the Milo packets, and mum always replies that it's because she likes me.
Grandma came by, with grandad, aunty Lina (mum's sister), Omar and Emma. Aunty Lina helped mum to buy me a Strawberry Shortcake Cafe which I had been asking for. Dr Choy calls it the tomato house. Grandad massaged my legs because they hurt a bit today.
Mum compared notes with her friend in the UK, whose daughter also has ALL. Dr Choy has given her my treatment protocol which lists out my chemo schedule for the next two months or so, and the list of drugs I will be given. Mum says her friend's daughter, who is receiving treatment at Sheffield Children's Hospital, will be given the same drugs as me -- the IT (chemo injection into the spine) Vincristine (which is given through an IV), Dexamethasone (a steroid tablet 2x day) and Asparaginase (injection into leg muscle). There are some others, but these are the ones we are both started off with initially.
Anyway, here's a good site that talks about ALL:
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec14/ch176/ch176b.html
QOTD: "Why is she always giving me Milo??"
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